(1) Field of the Invention
One field of application of this invention is the testing and measuring of functional relations between stress and deformation in materials, possibly in dependence of parameters like temperature and aging. In particular, the necessity for the generation of homogeneous deformations is fundamental in the theory of the strength of materials and is the basis for the determination of parameters in constitutive equations, e.g. the modulus of elasticity or viscosity.
A class of homogeneous deformations that is generable by the apparatus described herein is specified by the equations of motion x = cX + ky, y = aY, z = bZ in a rectilinear basis with small letters indicating coordinates of particles in a deformed, big letters indicating those in a reference configuration. The coefficient functions a, b, c, k are dependent of time. For a = b = c = 1, the deformation is called `simple shear`, for k = 0 we have the case of stretching.
Another field of application is that of technological tests. Their purpose is the searching of the strength of materials under deformation processes similar to those occuring in some construction of interest.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
Concerning the method, there is no prior art known to the inventor. The necessity for the generation of definite homogeneous deformations is well-known: The Non-Linear Field Theories of Mechanics, Encyclopedia of Physics, Volume III/3, Springer Verlag, N.Y. 1965, page 179.